Mark Whitacre

Embellisher, Embezzler, Fallen Star--and Mystery

Mark Whitacre has streaked across the business world like a meteor--spectacular and mysterious but ultimately crashing and burning.

The debris is scattered around central Illinois, where many lives and the corporate culture at Decatur's huge Archer Daniels Midland Co. have been changed.

Whitacre is now a convicted embezzler serving a nine-year term in a federal prison in North Carolina.

But exactly what role Whitacre played in the ADM case is a mystery wrapped in controversy.

The government informer, under the noses of his FBI handlers, was siphoning off ADM funds into Swiss bank accounts and convincing himself that the company condoned such behavior.

A quickly rising executive who may have painted his record in brighter colors than deserved, Whitacre was put in charge of the sexy ADM BioProducts division and tabbed by some as a possible future company president.

But depending on who is telling the story, the talkative, eager-to-please Whitacre was:

- Out of his depth.

- Shaken because he was being drawn into a web of dishonesty.

- Craftily looking for his big chance to cheat the company out of millions.

He actually may have been all three. Although gifted and intelligent, he still felt compelled to list honors he hadn't achieved and even to lie about simple, personal facts, such as claiming his parents had died when, in fact, they were still alive.

At ADM, Whitacre will always be the villain, because he went to the FBI and became a mole.

That led to a record corporate fine for price-fixing; the heir apparent, Michael Andreas, facing criminal charges; and longtime CEO Dwayne O. Andreas finally stepping down.